NEWSWORTHY
Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival offers a world of fascination
Held annually from 1990, save for 2007 when its host town was facing financial difficulties, the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival has become a little corner of Hokkaido where for four days in March the cinematically weird and wonderful can flourish. I had long wanted ...
Japan's last surviving coal railroad to end operations this month in Hokkaido
The only dedicated coal-carrying railroad still running in Japan will cease operations at the end of this month, ending its 94-year mission to support the country's industrial development. The railroad, operated these days by Taiheiyo Coal Services & Transportation Co., runs entirely within the city ...
'Empty words': Rights groups say Japan's bill recognizing Ainu as indigenous group falls short
Rights groups criticize the government over a recent bill recognizing the Ainu people for the first time as “an indigenous group.”
One family slides into action to create an outdoor ice rink
After a long day of Christmas Eve celebrations with seven of their eight children, five of whom were visiting from overseas, Christoph and Satoko Odermatt got to work. After the kids had all gone to bed, the couple dressed, headed out into the frigid Hokkaido ...
Japan's Ainu recognition bill: What does it mean for Hokkaido's indigenous people?
In a first for Japan, a bill to legally recognize the Ainu as the indigenous people of Japan is about to be submitted to the Diet. The bill includes clauses that oblige the government to adopt policies to support and protect the cultural identity of ...
Russia's Sergey Lavrov asks why Japan PM Abe is confident of ending row over islands off Hokkaido
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has questioned why Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is confident of resolving the long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over four Russian-held Pacific islands known as the Northern Territories. Abe expressed his resolve to advance the post-World War II peace ...
No major damage reported after magnitude 5.8 quake in Hokkaido
Four people were injured and hundreds of others left stranded in train carriages and at an airport early Friday after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit Hokkaido the previous night. While no major damage was reported from the quake, which struck at 9:22 p.m. Thursday, more ...
The Cabinet approves a bill to recognize Japan’s ethnic Ainu minority as an indigenous people for the first time, after decades of discrimination and assimilation.
The annual Sapporo Snow Festival, one of the nation's largest winter events, attracted a record-high 2.74 million visitors thanks to good weather and an influx of Chinese vacationers during the Lunar New Year period, organizers said Tuesday. The event, held since 1950, was staged from ...
Coldest air mass ever recorded in Hokkaido grips prefecture, with snow expected Saturday in Tokyo
A cold wave caused by a mass of air at record-low temperatures gripped Hokkaido on Friday, causing traffic disruption across the island. As temperatures plunged below minus 20 degrees Celsius in some parts of the region the Meteorological Agency also predicted snow on Saturday for ...
Japanese government-backed rally over islands held by Russia adopts muted tone amid talks
The statement adopted at the protest in Tokyo omitted phrases used in the past that could inflame tensions with the Kremlin.
Annual rally seeking return of Russia-held isles may tone down language to appease Moscow
The organizers of an annual rally calling for the return of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido may refrain from issuing a declaration that includes language potentially upsetting for Moscow, according to sources close to the matter, as Japan seeks a breakthrough in the decades-old dispute ...
